Damien Lucas

Another year... another FIFA... another promise of “revolutionary improvements” as new trailers are released.

The big talk in the gaming world this week has been the release of two new trailers for FIFA 17 in the EA Play conference on Sunday.

All the usual hype accompanied the release of the trailers which showcase an entirely new game mode and new gameplay features.

The Journey is a new story mode which follows your progress as a rising star in the Premier League.

The trailer shows several clips from The Journey centered around the fictional character Alex Hunter as he makes his way through the ranks at Manchester United - you can play for any Premier League club though.

The Journey looks like an interesting feature and it has certainly never been attempted before in a sports simulation to this degree.

I personally would question it’s appeal, I’m not sure that kind of game mode is why people play FIFA.

But it is not replacing any of the usual game modes so it’s an added bonus and an intriguing one at that.

The clips are a tad cheesey, think of the movie Goal, but it will definitely appeal to FIFA’s legion of young gamers.

The other trailer, entitled Own Every Moment, is rather irritatingly narrated by new Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho.

Jose Mourinho provides irritating narrative while James is shown taking Real Madrid's free-kicks and corners... which we all know would never happen with Ronaldo around!

It is the “official gameplay trailer” but in reality we see a few close-up cut scenes of cover stars Eden Hazard, Marco Reus, James Rodriguez and Anthony Martial scoring goals designed to show off the graphics.

We already know the graphics are superb, even if they are better than ever. What we wanted to see was the new features in action.

I’m a big fan of FIFA but was left feeling a bit ‘meh’ by the whole trailer release to be honest.

The interesting bits were in the accompanying notes from EA Sports which detail a set piece tweak whichaims to inject personality and experience control from every dead ball situation.

The clips are a tad cheesey, think of the movie Goal, but it will definitely appeal to FIFA’s legion of young gamers.

Damien Lucas, gaming columnist

A physical play overhaul which claims to transform the way players physically interact in all areas of the pitch.

EA say the control is now in your hands as you battle for space and possession.

And finally an Active Intellgience System which EA said introduces constant spatial analysis, increases activity off the ball, and changes the way players move, read the game and react.